Unravelling Geographical Disparities in Child Social Exclusion in Australia: An Augmented Index and Temporal Comparisons

Abstract The Child Social Exclusion (CSE) index, a multi-dimensional measure of child disadvantage in Australia, serves as a vital area-based indicator of the risk of social exclusion for Australian children. The aim of our study is twofold. First, we develop an augmented index using data from the 2021 Australian Census, supplemented by additional administrative and microsimulation data. We augment the original core index’s key social exclusion domains (socio-economic status, education, connectedness, access to housing and health) with (i) a new community and environment domain, known to matter for child wellbeing but rarely before included in empirical field work and (ii) financial hardships, asthma, and mental health indicators, that extend the socio-economic and health domains. Second, we compare the core index across 2021 and 2016 to provide further depth on the latest disparities in the country. The findings show that close to half of the children living in regional areas lived in the most and second most excluded quintiles of the index. This far exceeds the equivalent share in the greater capital cities (36%). Our trend findings also indicate a persistent pattern of geographical disadvantage among children over time, highlighting the ongoing nature of this issue.